Best Disney Girlfriends: Number Four

It seems like Disney princesses are a hot-topic over the internet, or at least at my own blog, so here is another ten posts about them. Yes, they will be revealed one at a time, perhaps in intervals of one week. Since I have not watched all of Disney’s animated films (even from their canon list) I may not include some of your favorite Disney female characters, but any Disney princess exclusion is intentional. Some other things about this list:

1. Disney does not equal Pixar
2. Only 2D-animated characters allowed
3. No animals or otherwise non-human characters allowed
4. Must be of at least teenager age
5. Must star in at least one of Disney’s canon movies
6. Let’s pretend that all sequels did not happen

Artsy, adventurous, and an anthropologist of sorts, Jane Porter in Disney’s Tarzan is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ book of the same title. In Disney’s rendition, Jane comes to Tarzan’s homeland looking to study gorillas, but ends up teaching a gorilla-raised human all about 20th century society. In the process of doing so, she develops feelings for him, ultimately causing her to ditch human society for Tarzan and his gorilla family. That basically sealed the deal for me. Jane is not only the most sciency of the Disney princess bunch, she chooses stinky gorillas over the entirety of human civilization. Come on, who would ditch the internet and cell phones for some vine-swinging, tree-surfing, ripped dude? Okay, maybe the choice wasn’t so hard to make, but I simply love Jane’s character design and voice actor. I was never good at identifying accents, but I believe Minnie Driver gives Jane a slight British accent, obviously amping her perceived intellect. And although Glen Keane steals the show in terms of animation with Tarzan, Jane doesn’t seem as restricted with her facial expressions and body movements as her Disney princess counterparts, allowing Jane to display more (maybe just less gracefully) excitement, fright, and just her overall perky personality. Through and through, Jane is a mannered Brit who has an inner gorilla.